OPM's proprietary OXPEKK® material formulation is an ultra-high performance melt processable thermoplastic used in highly demanding biomedical and industrial applications. OPM has been exclusively developing poly-ether-ketone-ketone (PEKK) process and application technology since its founding in 2000.

OXPEKK-LTS is a low temperature synthesis process that offers superior stability and purity. The process has the benefit of a highly controlled particle morphology that is tailorable and desirable for the production of powders for 3D printing, thermoplastic prepreg and coatings.

In the CompositesWorld article “PEEK or PEKK in future TPC aerostructures?” (April 1, 2018), OPM’s new product line is introduced as follows: “This new product, OXPEKK­-LTS, offers the best of both worlds: a controllable process that produces a product with a spherical polymer powder.”

Scott DeFelice, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of OPM, provided the following commentary in the CompositesWorld article: “With grinding, you end up with jagged ‘rocks’ of polymer which are difficult to stack uniformly when coating and impregnating a tape. The round shape of OXPEKK-LTS allows more precision during tape making. So now we can improve the tape and enable true OOA processing via in-situ consolidation, which is hampered by current tape dimensional fidelity.’”

“OPM’s initial product technologies were based upon a conventionally produced ‘DuPont method’ high temperature synthesis process as currently supplied by numerous firms,” added DeFelice. “Though the legacy synthesis technology has been acceptable for numerous applications, there have always been specific limitations to adoption as the result of the legacy polymer’s relative stability and post synthesis particle morphology. With this in mind, OPM licensed a patented PEKK synthesis technology that utilizes a Low Temperature Synthesis process, which yields a best in class PEKK polymer.”

A leader in PEKK technologies in both biomedical and industrial marketplace, OPM recently successfully exited its aerospace & defense 3D printing business with its sale to its strategic partner, Hexcel. OPM also has a line of PEKK compounds sold under the OXPEKK brand available for all industrial and biomedical uses.

PEKK thermoplastic prepreg products are now penetrating into various markets, and OPM is developing partnerships to explore the use of OXPEKK-LTS for these product forms. In the recent CompositesWorld article, DeFelice compared the benefits of OXPEKK-LTS vs PEEK, noting: “First, the compressive strength of PEKK is much higher than PEEK, which is a substantial advantage. You are able to achieve much better fatigue performance in the composite structure, which in turn means you can design lighter structures which don’t require as much material. In other words, we provide a way to achieve higher strength-to-weight ratios. But we also enable ISC [in-situ consolidation], so these lighter structures are now produced in one step, not two.”

OPM will be selectively introducing OXPEKK-LTS to its customers in the coming years as qualifications are completed. The Company’s initial focus will be specialty applications in biomedical and industrial light weighting. OPM’s initial production capacity will start at 50 metric tons and be on line by the end of 2018. Initial customer evaluations began in late 2017.

About Oxford Performance Materials, Inc.

A recognized leader in advanced materials science, Oxford Performance Materials Inc. (OPM) was founded in 2000 to exploit and commercialize the world’s highest performing thermoplastics, with a focus on poly-ether-ketone-ketone (PEKK). OPM develops proprietary material, process, and application technologies and applies high performance additive manufacturing (HPAM™) to produce fully functional, end-use structural parts. OPM Biomedical is a pioneer in personalized medicine, 3D printing OsteoFab® cranial and facial implants as an OEM, and spinal implants and additional products on a contract manufacturing basis. OPM Biomedical is the first and only company to receive FDA 510(k) clearance to manufacture 3D printed patient-specific polymeric implants, and has a total of four 510(k) clearances in its portfolio. The OPM Materials business unit develops proprietary OXPEKK® thermoplastic products and other materials for biomedical, aerospace, defense, and industrial applications. For more information, please visit: www.oxfordpm.com